The use of information technology by the quantity surveying professionals in Hong Kong

This paper introduces the findings of a recent study on the use of information technology (IT) among the quantity surveying (QS) organisations in Hong Kong. The study was conducted through a structured questionnaire survey among 18 QS organisations registered in Hong Kong, representing around 53% of the total number of organisations in the profession. The data set generated from this study provided rich information about what information technology the QS profession used, what the perceived benefits and barriers experienced by the users in the industry were. The survey concluded that although IT had been widely used in QS organisations in Hong Kong, it is mainly used to support various individual tasks of the QS services at a basic level, rather than to streamline the production of QS services as a whole through automation. Most of the respondents agreed that IT plays an important role in the QS profession but they had not fully taken advantage of IT to improve their competitive edge in the market. They usually adopted a more passive “wait and see” approach. In addition, very few QS organisations in Hong Kong have a comprehensive policy in promoting the use of IT within the organisations. It is recommended that the QS profession must recognise the importance of IT and take appropriate actions to meet the challenges of ever-changing and competitive market place.

Plan reading and quantity surveying,

"Suggested reading": p. 184-185.

Tietomallintamisen aiheuttamat muutokset ja hyödyt LVI-suunnitteluprosessissa sekä määrälaskennassa

Tässä diplomityössä tarkastellaan tietomallintamista eng. BIM (Building Information Modeling) LVI-suunnittelun näkökulmasta sekä esitellään tietomallintamisen vaikutuksia ja hyötyjä suunnitteluprosessiin. Tietomallintaminen mahdollistaa esimerkiksi LVI-suunnittelijan tuottaman määräluettelon 3D-mallista, jonka seurauksena eri toimijoiden väliset rajapinnat tulevat luultavasti kokemaan muutoksia. Työssä vertaillaan käsin laskettuja ja 3D-mallista tuotettuja määräluetteloita toisiinsa. Työhön sisällytetään myös urakoitsijoiden haastatteluja, joissa pyritään selvittämään heidän näkemyksiään suunnittelijan tuottamiin määrätietoihin.

Projektilaskentamallin kehittäminen rakennusalan pk-yrityksessä

Tutkimuksen kohdeyritys on rakennusalan pk-yritys, jonka liiketoiminta perustuu kokonaan toimitusprojekteille. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli kehittää kohdeyrityksen käyttöön helppokäyttöinen projektilaskentamalli, jonka avulla voidaan ennalta tunnistaa kannattamattomat toimitusprojektit. Tutkimuksessa keskitytään projektien kustannusnäkökulmaan. Tutkimus koostuu teoreettisesta kirjallisuusselvityksestä ja empiirisestä tapaustutkimuksesta. Teoreettisen aineiston ja kohdeyrityksen tietojen perusteella rakennettiin laskentamalli, jonka toimintaa tarkasteltiin esimerkkiprojektien avulla. Työn tutkimusote on konstruktiivinen, osin myös toiminta-analyyttinen. Kehitetty laskentamalli kattaa toimitusprojektin koko elinkaaren. Tarjouslaskenta-vaiheessa sen avulla tehdään päätös projektin toteutuskelpoisuudesta. Toteutus- ja seurantavaiheessa taas sillä seurataan projektin toteutuvia lukuja. Kohdeyritys voi laskentamallin avulla tunnistaa kannattamattomia projekteja, sillä tarjoushinnat tarkistetaan täyskatteellisen kustannusarvion avulla ennen projektin toteutuspäätöstä. Määrälaskennan ja täyskatteellisen laskennan ansiosta aiheuttamisperiaatetta noudatetaan kattavammin kuin kohdeyrityksen aiemmassa käytännössä.

The influence of project complexity on estimating accuracy

With the rapid development in technology over recent years, construction, in common with many areas of industry, has become increasingly complex. It would, therefore, seem to be important to develop and extend the understanding of complexity so that industry in general and in this case the construction industry can work with greater accuracy and efficiency to provide clients with a better service. This paper aims to generate a definition of complexity and a method for its measurement in order to assess its influence upon the accuracy of the quantity surveying profession in UK new build office construction. Quantitative data came from an analysis of twenty projects of varying size and value and qualitative data came from interviews with professional quantity surveyors. The findings highlight the difficulty in defining and measuring project complexity. The correlation between accuracy and complexity was not straightforward, being subjected to many extraneous variables, particularly the impact of project size. Further research is required to develop a better measure of complexity. This is in order to improve the response of quantity surveyors, so that an appropriate level of effort can be applied to individual projects, permitting greater accuracy and enabling better resource planning within the profession.

Construction contracts: law and management (3rd edition)

This book is aimed primarily at students for whom the study of building or civil engineering contracts forms part of a construction-based course. We have had in mind the syllabus requirements for first degrees in Building, Civil Engineering, Architecture, Quantity Surveying and Building Surveying, as well as those of postgraduate courses in Construction Management and Project Management. We have also assumed that such students will already have been introduced to the general principles of English law, especially those relating to contract and tort. As a result, while aspects of those subjects that are of particular relevance to construction are dealt with here, the reader must look elsewhere for the general legal background. In producing this third edition, we have again been greatly assisted by the many helpful comments made by reviewers and users of its predecessor. Nonetheless, our basic aim is identical to that which underpinned the first edition: to provide an explanation of the fundamental principles of construction contract law, rather than a clause-by-clause analysis of any particular standard-form contract. As a result, while we draw most frequently upon JCT 98 for our illustrations of particular points, this merely reflects the pre-eminent position occupied by that particular form of contract in the UK construction industry. We conclude by repeating our previous warning as to the dangers inherent in a little learning. Neither this book, nor the courses for which it is intended, seek to produce construction lawyers. The objective is rather to enable those who are not lawyers to resolve simple construction disputes before they become litigious, and to recognize when matters require professional legal advice. It should be the aim of every construction student to understand the legal framework sufficiently that they can instruct and brief specialist lawyers, and this book is designed to help them towards that understanding.

Proceedings of the West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference 2010

FOREWORD Welcome to this West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) conference taking place here in Ghana. Thank you for coming and welcome to Accra. The main aims of the WABER conference are: to help young researchers and early-career scholars in West Africa to develop their research work and skills through constructive face-to-face interaction with experienced academics; to provide a platform for networking and collaborative work among senior built environment academics in West Africa; and to serve as a vehicle for developing the field of construction management and economics in Africa. Waber 2009 The WABER event in 2009 was held at the British Council in Accra, Ghana on 2-3 June. The event was a resounding success. It attracted participation from 32 researchers, from 12 different institutions, who presented their work to an audience of approximately 100 people. Each presenter received immediate and constructive feedback from an international panel. The event was opened by Professor K.K. Adarkwa, Vice Chancellor of KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana, with several senior academics and researchers from universities, polytechnics, and other institutions in Ghana and Nigeria in attendance. There was also a significant level of attendance by senior construction practitioners in Ghana. Thank you to the School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, UK for funding the inaugural event in 2009. We are also grateful to all of you who helped to make the event a success and to those of you who have joined us here today to build upon the success and legacy of WABER 2009. Waber 2010 This year, we have 60+ peer-reviewed papers and presentations on topics relating to Building services and maintenance, Construction costs, Construction design and technology, Construction education, Construction finance, Construction procurement, Contract administration, Contract management, Contractor development, Decision support systems, Dispute resolution, Economic development, Energy efficiency, Environment and sustainability, Health and safety, Human resources, Information technology, Marketing, Materials science, Organisation strategy and business performance, Productivity, Project management, Quantity surveying, Real estate and planning, Solar energy systems, Supply chain management and Urban development. We hope that these papers will generate interest among delagates and stimulate discussion here and beyond the conference into the wider community of academia and industry. The delegates at this conference come from 10 different countries. This provides a rich international and multicultural blend and a perfect platform for networking and developing collaborations. This year we are blessed to have three high profile keynote speakers in the persons of Professor George Ofori (National University of Singapore), Dr Roine Leiringer (University of Reading, UK) and Professor Will Hughes (University of Reading, UK). We are also thankful to Dr Chris Harty (University of Reading, UK) who is facilitating the Research Skills Workshop on ‘Writing a scientific article’. Thank you to Dr Sena Agyepong of our conference organising team for her capable management of local organising arrangements. And above all, thank you to all of you for coming to this conference. Enjoy and have a safe journey back home. Dr Samuel Laryea School of Construction Management and Engineering University of Reading, July 2010

Theory and practice in value management: a reply to Ellis et al (2005)

The constructivist model of 'soft' value management (VM) is contrasted with the VM discourse appropriated by cost consultants who operate from within UK quantity surveying (QS) practices. The enactment of VM by cost consultants is shaped by the institutional context within which they operate and is not necessarily representative of VM practice per se. Opportunities to perform VM during the formative stages of design are further constrained by the positivistic rhetoric that such practitioners use to conceptualize and promote their services. The complex interplay between VM theory and practice is highlighted and analysed from a non-deterministic perspective. Codified models of 'best practice' are seen to be socially constructed and legitimized through human interaction in the context of interorganizational networks. Published methodologies are seen to inform practice in only a loose and indirect manner, with extensive scope for localized improvization. New insights into the relationship between VM theory and practice are derived from the dramaturgical metaphor. The social reality of VM is seen to be constituted through scripts and performances, both of which are continuously contested across organizational arenas. It is concluded that VM defies universal definition and is conceptualized and enacted differently across different localized contexts.

Built environment education and research in West Africa

Built environment programmes in West African universities; and research contributions from West Africa in six leading international journals and proceedings of the WABER conference are explored. At least 20 universities in the region offer degree programmes in Architecture (86% out of 23 universities); Building (57%); Civil Engineering (67%); Estate Management (52%); Quantity Surveying (52%); Surveying and Geoinformatics (55%); Urban and Regional Planning (67%). The lecturer-student ratio on programmes is around 1:25 compared to the 1:10 benchmark for excellence. Academics who teach on the programmes are clearly research active with some having published papers in leading international journals. There is, however, plenty of scope for improvement particularly at the highest international level. Out of more than 5000 papers published in six leading international peer-reviewed journals since each of them was established, only 23 of the papers have come from West Africa. The 23 papers are published by 28 academics based in 13 universities. Although some academics may publish their work in the plethora of journals that have proliferated in recent years, new generation researchers are encouraged to publish in more established journals. The analyses of 187 publications in the WABER conference proceedings revealed 18 research-active universities. Factors like quality of teaching, research and lecturer-student ratio, etc count in the ranking of universities. The findings lay bare some of the areas that should be addressed to improve the landscape of higher education in West Africa.

Building the web: the Internet and the property profession

The report examines the development of the Internet and Intranets in the world of business and commerce, drawing on previous literature and research. The new technology is explained, and key issues examined, such as the impact of the Internet on the surveyor's role as 'information broker' and its likely effect on clients' property requirements. The research is based on an analysis of 261 postal questionnaire responses and eight case study interviews from a sample of general practice and quantity surveying practices and corporates. For the first time the property profession is examined in detail and the key drivers, barriers and benefits of Internet use are identified for a range of different sized organisations.

Knowledge-based design cost estimation through extending industry foundation classes

In order to overcome divergence of estimation with the same data, the proposed digital costing process adopts an integrated design of information system to design the process knowledge and costing system together. By employing and extending a widely used international standard, industry foundation classes, the system can provide an integrated process which can harvest information and knowledge of current quantity surveying practice of costing method and data. Knowledge of quantification is encoded from literatures, motivation case and standards. It can reduce the time consumption of current manual practice. The further development will represent the pricing process in a Bayesian Network based knowledge representation approach. The hybrid types of knowledge representation can produce a reliable estimation for construction project. In a practical term, the knowledge management of quantity surveying can improve the system of construction estimation. The theoretical significance of this study lies in the fact that its content and conclusion make it possible to develop an automatic estimation system based on hybrid knowledge representation approach.

Appropriate surveying methods in the Philippines: Can modern GPS units help?

An investigation was undertaken to test the effectiveness of two procedures for recording boundaries and plot positions for scientific studies on farms on Leyte Island, the Philippines. The accuracy of a Garmin 76 Global Positioning System (GPS) unit and a compass and chain was checked under the same conditions. Tree canopies interfered with the ability of the satellite signal to reach the GPS and therefore the GPS survey was less accurate than the compass and chain survey. Where a high degree of accuracy is required, a compass and chain survey remains the most effective method of surveying land underneath tree canopies, providing operator error is minimised. For a large number of surveys and thus large amounts of data, a GPS is more appropriate than a compass and chain survey because data are easily up-loaded into a Geographic Information System (GIS). However, under dense canopies where satellite signals cannot reach the GPS, it may be necessary to revert to a compass survey or a combination of both methods.

The conserved quantity theory of causation and chance raising

In this paper I offer an 'integrating account' of singular causation, where the term 'integrating' refers to the following program for analysing causation. There are two intuitions about causation, both of which face serious counterexamples when used as the basis for an analysis of causation. The 'process' intuition, which says that causes and effects are linked by concrete processes, runs into trouble with cases of misconnections', where an event which serves to prevent another fails to do so on a particular occasion and yet the two events are linked by causal processes. The chance raising intuition, according to which causes raise the chance of their effects, easily accounts for misconnections but faces the problem of chance lowering causes, a problem easily accounted for by the process approach. The integrating program attempts to provide an analysis of singular causation by synthesising the two insights, so as to solve both problems. In this paper I show that extant versions of the integrating program due to Eells, Lewis, and Menzies fail to account for the chance-lowering counterexample. I offer a new diagnosis of the chance lowering case, and use that as a basis for an integrating account of causation which does solve both cases. In doing so, I accept various assumptions of the integrating program, in particular that there are no other problems with these two approaches. As an example of the process account, I focus on the recent CQ theory of Wesley Salmon (1997).

A semi-empirical approach to optimise the quantity of drying aids required to spray dry sugar-rich foods

A semi-empirical linear equation has been developed to optimise the amount of maltodextrin additive (DE 6) required to successfully spray dry a sugar-rich product on the basis of its composition. Based on spray drying experiments, drying index values for individual sugars (sucrose, glucose, frutose) and citric acid were determined, and us;ng these index values an equation for model mixtures of these components was established. This equation has been tested with two sugar-rich natural products, pineapple juice and honey. The relationship was found to be valid for these products.

Association between a 15q25 gene variant, smoking quantity and tobacco-related cancers among 17 000 individuals

Methods We performed a detailed analysis of one 15q single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs16969968) with smoking behaviour and cancer risk in a total of 17 300 subjects from five LC studies and four upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) cancer studies. Results Subjects with one minor allele smoked on average 0.3 cigarettes per day (CPD) more, whereas subjects with the homozygous minor AA genotype smoked on average 1.2 CPD more than subjects with a GG genotype (P < 0.001). The variant was associated with heavy smoking (> 20 CPD) [odds ratio (OR) = 1.13, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.96-1.34, P = 0.13 for heterozygotes and 1.81, 95% CI 1.39-2.35 for homozygotes, P < 0.0001]. The strong association between the variant and LC risk (OR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.23-1.38, P = 1 x 10(-18)), was virtually unchanged after adjusting for this smoking association (smoking adjusted OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.19-1.35, P = 5 x 10(-13)). Furthermore, we found an association between the variant allele and an earlier age of LC onset (P = 0.02). The association was also noted in UADT cancers (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.01-1.15, P = 0.02). Genome wide association (GWA) analysis of over 300 000 SNPs on 11 219 subjects did not identify any additional variants related to smoking behaviour. Conclusions This study confirms the strong association between 15q gene variants and LC and shows an independent association with smoking quantity, as well as an association with UADT cancers.